Periodic Reporting for period 5 - BYONIC (Beyond the Iron Curtain)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2024-05-31
This ERC project, BYONIC, aims to improve our understanding of the cycling of multiple essential resources in the ocean and their impact on phytoplankton productivity. As one of the largest carbon reservoirs on Earth the ocean is an essential component of the global carbon cycle, with this activity underpinned by the activity of microscopic plants known as phytoplankton who catalyse the transfer of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the ocean. The overall activity of phytoplankton is also of importance as it forms the base of pelagic ocean food webs and supports important ecosystem services. Accordingly, we need to understand the drivers of phytoplankton growth and how it will vary in response to environmental change.
Our current conceptual model behind our understanding of the impact of environmental variability on phytoplankton growth is very simple and ignores the role of multiple micronutrient resources in shaping spatio-temporal variability. This ERC project will respond to these gaps in two main ways: firstly, by developing representations of multiple micronutrient resources in global ocean biogeochemical models to understand the drivers of their variability and secondly, to assess and constrain how resource variability affects microbial activity in the context of a changing climate.
BYONIC addressed these questions via three overarching research questions: 1) How do environmental gradients affect cellular trade-offs and the co-limitation of growth? 2) What controls the oceanic distributions of Co, Cu, Mn and Zn? and 3) Does a realistic representation of resource limitation/co-limitation effect the response of ocean ecosystems to environmental change. The project had five workpackages to respond to these questions. Two focussed on developing representations of multiple nutrient cycling and cellular growth co-limitation, and three on key science outcomes linked to the three overarching research questions.
The conclusions of the project are that considered the role of trace metal cycling places new understanding on the factors regulating ocean primary productivity, its response to climate change and has identified new feedback mechanisms. These feedbacks may operate both in response to future and past environmental change and places new emphasis on a set of identified knowledge gaps around the interactions between different trace metals, ocean biogeochemistry and changing environmental conditions.
Our current conceptual model behind our understanding of the impact of environmental variability on phytoplankton growth is very simple and ignores the role of multiple micronutrient resources in shaping spatio-temporal variability. This ERC project will respond to these gaps in two main ways: firstly, by developing representations of multiple micronutrient resources in global ocean biogeochemical models to understand the drivers of their variability and secondly, to assess and constrain how resource variability affects microbial activity in the context of a changing climate.
BYONIC addressed these questions via three overarching research questions: 1) How do environmental gradients affect cellular trade-offs and the co-limitation of growth? 2) What controls the oceanic distributions of Co, Cu, Mn and Zn? and 3) Does a realistic representation of resource limitation/co-limitation effect the response of ocean ecosystems to environmental change. The project had five workpackages to respond to these questions. Two focussed on developing representations of multiple nutrient cycling and cellular growth co-limitation, and three on key science outcomes linked to the three overarching research questions.
The conclusions of the project are that considered the role of trace metal cycling places new understanding on the factors regulating ocean primary productivity, its response to climate change and has identified new feedback mechanisms. These feedbacks may operate both in response to future and past environmental change and places new emphasis on a set of identified knowledge gaps around the interactions between different trace metals, ocean biogeochemistry and changing environmental conditions.
We have been very successful during BYONIC, completing all the planned deliverables associated with all five workpackages, despite the impact of the pandemic. These have all been in the form of research papers, as well as new model code, freely available in open access form and integrated into the NEMO modelling system. In more detail, we have developed the first ocean biogeochemical modelling representations for Co, Cu, Zn and Mn cycling. We added the first representation of Fe isotope cycling. Thanks to these innovations, we were able to delineate the major controls on their cycling and parse out the role played by external inputs and internal cycling. In addition, we extended our efforts into the modelling of phytopkankton and zoopkankton processes, with a focus in the these elements. We delivered the first estimates of how climate change would affect zooplankton cycling of Fe, Co, Cu, Mn and Zn, which enabled us to identify novel feedback mechanisms hithero ignored. We also developed tools to identify Fe limitation from space and insitu measurements to place additional constraints on how trace metal limitation of phytoplankton growrh is currently changing. We also delivered new cellular based modelling of trace metal co-limitation, with a focus on the interactions between Fe-Mn.
The new modelling framework developed at the core of the project represents a substantial advancement in knowledge. As it was developed within the NEMO ocean modelling framework used by many European climate modelling centres it can be seamlessly fed into their developments and catalytse new studies on eg the links to upper trophic levels, past environmental change etc.